Christmas Crafts

I had a lot of fun this year working on Christmas projects. We usually put together a candy making CD to give to all of Dan's siblings and the cousins/aunts that participate in chocolate dipping every November.




I then try to coordinate the design of the CD with our candy tags.





Since we draw names in our families, it is tradition to give those in our family we didn't draw a small gift. This year while we were in France we found some beautiful and fragrant soaps at the local market in Nice which seemed perfect to use as gifts. So I bought muslin bags, stitched the red line across the top and stamped a wreath design in 2 different colors on each. I have to say, I was pretty pleased with how they turned out.

Our New Years Eve Tradition

I'm excited for New Years, and to embark on another new year of experiences, opportunities and accomplishments. I love the traditions that Holly and I are creating together in our family unit. Every New Years Eve, we make fondue. Complete with all the accompaniments and dippers. I'll be making a tasty gruyere and sharp cheddar beer based fondue tonight. We now need to figure out what movies we want to watch, and also decide if we are going to venture downtown for fireworks viewing.

Christmas '08

As always we had an excellent Christmas. We were fortunate enough to spend a few days with family and participate in all the family traditions. In Dan's family it is tradition to get together every Christmas Eve for a big party with food and a gift exchange. It is no small feat getting all of Dan's siblings, their spouses and children stuffed into a small house, but we do it and love every minute of it!

Of course Dan's family home is decked out to the hilt in country Christmas charm. With lights everywhere and a roaring fire it would get anyone into the Christmas spirit.




We had delicious food and fun visiting with everyone.









Christmas day is always spent with my family. I was so proud of my sisters two girls this year, they obeyed the "rules" that you don't get to go downstairs to see what Santa brought until all the adults are up and out of bed. They woke up at 7am and waited for the slow moving adults until almost 9am! That is pretty impressive for an 8 and 5 year old. Luckily they were well rewarded for their wait!

This is my favorite image. It is the oldest yelling out "Sweeeeet!" as she opened her gift.





We had a great time laughing opening gifts and playing with toys.





Not exactly sure why my mom had two bows stuck to her shirt...but we were all kind of laughing at her green boobs!



Later that night my brother, his wife and 4 girls came over so we could do the cousin and sibling gift exchange. I loved having 6 of my 7 nieces over and seeing the excitement in their eyes. Surprisingly enough there wasn't much chaos even with the snowed-in sleep over we had.







Presents aside, we had such a great time just spending it with each other. We love our families and cherish the memories we are able to share each time we visit. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Jell-O Dessert

I think we have a new holiday tradition. This past Christmas Day, we had "Strawberry Jell-O Fluff" which is a tradition with Holly's aunt and her entire family. I was a little hesitant to eat this concoction, but basically ended up inhaling it. Totally processed and bad for you, but really good none-the-less. We'll be making Jell-O Fluff for Christmas and Easter I'm sure going forward.

STRAWBERRY JELLO FLUFF

1 lg. pkg. strawberry Jell-O
1 lb. frozen diced or sliced strawberries
1 (8 oz.) Cool Whip

Prepare Jell-O according to package directions using hot water only. Add slightly thawed & crushed strawberries or raspberries. Refrigerate until slightly thickened. Beat in Cool Whip with electric mixer until well mixed. Refrigerate until set.

Viva La Vida

I had an amazing Christmas with Holly and our families. We flew back into Seattle last night. Every year we are spoiled it seems. I have been wanting this new Coldplay CD since it released earlier this year. Holly gave this to me, and I've been playing it all day at work, first day back in the office. Coldplay is becoming one of my favorite all time bands, right up there with Tori Amos, Fleetwood Mac, ABBA and Stevie Nicks. Coldplay is touring [supposedly] in Seattle this summer. Or at least coming to Portland or Vancouver BC. I need to keep my eye out on some good tickets.

Our White Christmas

We had a great celebration with my family on Christmas Eve. We spent the day with my Dad chatting, cooking and watching movies while waiting for the rest of my family to gather. It was a full house with all the nieces and nephews, there were 29 of us. We had our traditional dinner which included smoked turkey, spiral sliced ham, roast beef, funeral potatoes, stuffed mushrooms and all the trimmings. We were assigned an appetizer to make for everyone, so we decided to make hummus with feta and pine nuts, roasted tomatoes, as well as baked pita triangles. Basically there was way too much food, but it all managed to get eaten. We heard there was a big snow storm that was supposed to hit on Christmas Eve, but luckily it came the next day and Holly and I didn't have to drive in it.

On Christmas Day, we woke up with Holly's family and our two nieces bouncing off the walls. The biggest hit of the morning was the new family Wii from Santa. We've all been playing Wii Sports, and Wii Play with the shooting range and racing cows. The girls love it. After Santa gifts we took a break and made breakfast then resumed opening up gifts with each other. The snow / rain storm started coming down. We were worried Kyle and Alicia, and their kids were not going to be able to make it. It was extremely windy and rainy first. In fact, the wind was so strong, it caused rain to come through the windows and we had a small flood to deal with inside the house. It soon turned into snow, which quickly got out of control and Kyle, Alicia and their girls ended up spending the night with us. The adults played Wii until 2am, it was a really fun sleepover. The next morning we found out we got about 18" of snow at Holly's Mom's. Other areas had up to 27" of snow. We basically went from being house bound in Seattle, to being house bound here. Luckily we didn't loose power so we have the Wii to keep us entertained.

We Made It Home For Christmas

What seemed like an eternity, but more realistically the better part of a work day at SeaTac airport, we finally were able to fly out and make it home for Christmas. It's just as cold and snowy here in the mountains with our families. We love it! All our luggage made it without incident, and neither one of us had a major melt down. Our good friend Sue got us to the airport in her four wheel drive Volvo, which made a difference, since I spun out in our Accord earlier that day driving to work. Holly and I both were pleasantly surprised that when we checked in, shortly thereafter we were upgraded to first class. I can get use to the huge seats and copious amounts of leg room to stretch out, particularly on the Delta Airlines planes. Finally, some benefit to racking up all those frequent flier miles are paying off.

Our "7-for-7" Holiday Venue

Steve, Kelly, Holly and I braved the horrible Seattle driving conditions last night and went out to see the Broadway touring version of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Luckily Steve drove in his all wheel drive vehicle, and I didn't have to deal with it. We had a nice meal at Il Fornaio, then headed over to the 5th Ave Theatre to watch this. I LOVED the sets, particularly all the moving trees and chirping bird sounds in the theatre. This has always been a fun movie of mine growing up, so it was nice to see a different version of it. This was a fun holiday thing to do. I can't believe Christmas Eve is tomorrow. Where has this month and year gone?

Snow, Ice, Rain, Wind

More snow, ice and rain is slated for this upcoming weekend. I wonder how much more havoc it will cause to the area, that seems to be under a sheet of black ice and in some instances completely shut down. The commute today, driving in was fine, but super slow. I only spun a tad after dropping Holly off at her office, and going north again on 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle. They are predicting power outages, more snow, and potentially being at the right temps to cause an ice storm. We'll see what Saturday & Sunday bring to the ongoing slew of winter storms to our region.

We Are Not Weather Wusses!

Snow in Seattle city, right off the water typically always wrecks havoc on the commute. Today was no exception. There are huge, pretty snowflakes falling out my office window as I work, so I decided to snap a quick photo. It always amazes me how many people in the office, turn into weather wusses when there is inclement weather.

Almost Christmas

I’m really looking forward to seeing family next week for Christmas. I love that we make the effort each year to be with both our families. Christmas still is bittersweet for me without my Mom around. She truly was Mrs. Santa Claus in more ways than a lot of people will ever know for the family and others. So many of the traditions my family does, stems from good memories and learning experiences with Mom and Dad. I keep reminding myself that she is missing us, as much as we miss her. It is still a little hard to accept the fact that Christmas will never quite be the same, but each year gets easier with the void of her not physically being around us. All of my siblings and I, have so many beautiful things in our homes to remind us of our various childhoods and Christmases we got to spent with our Mom. As I still try to understand why strokes are such a horrible epidemic many people are faced with, it’s the bigger picture that truly makes me happiest. I will get to see her again. All of us truly and sincerely believe this. And though, this upcoming Christmas with the family, still wont quite be the same without our Mom, life goes on and new memories are being established. We get to reflect on all the wonderful memories we have had, and look forward to the day where we can embrace again.

Seattle Snow

I love the first snow! Here are a few pics of own winter wonderland.

Officially Accepted

We are OFFICIALLY accepted into the Chinese adoption program! WooHoo…!

First major milestone is now complete in this process. Now we are onto a bit more paperwork. We hopefully will get fingerprinted in mid-January at the federal building, wrap up the Chinese dossier, and then the clock should start ticking…currently 27-36 months before we travel to China. Looks like we still have ample time to get our daughter's room ready, more than likely in a new home if the economy does not self combust over the next 12-18 months.

Fabulous Festive Friday

Dan and I had an excellent date night this past Friday. We braved the freezing rain and went to Soprano's, our neighborhood pizza and pasta joint, and had really good fill-me-up heart warming food. Dan had gorgonzola gnocchi and I had rosemary chicken ravioli. Yum!

After dinner we headed over to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens for their holiday light show. It was super cold, but totally worth it. I thought it was so creative, they had lights in the shape of flowers, bugs, and animals. Here are some highlights.




This is how most of our photos turned out. For some reason, Dan can't quite focus the camera on both of us :)



I loved the dahlias and sunflowers.




Did I mention it was cold. Don't we look cute in our hats?




The pictures don't do it justice. If you have time to go this year, I would totally recommend it.

Crash and Burn

I apparently can't carry on a conversation while I'm on the treadmill at the gym. I crashed and burned pretty hard on Saturday. I don't really know how I fell, but I WAS MORTIFIED! It was your classic crash. First phase, I fell on my left knee. Second phase, I shot off the back of the treadmill onto my butt and other knee complete with my shirt being lifted up by the treadmill track. Is this the naked dream, where I am in public with no clothes on and don't realize I don't have any clothes on? Third phase, the iPod came flying off the book rack on the treadmill and smacked me in my forehead. A few strangers working out horridly looked over in shame...just kidding...they looked over to make sure I was OK. I was not hurt, but embarrassed to no end. Let's just say that my knee hurts...still...and I ended my walk early, switched over to the stationary bike and "worked the pain off." I finally got around to lifting up my pant leg to notice the abrasion and blood. I just want to announce that this is the second EVER sports injury, that I've ever had in my entire life. I'm such a sports trooper!

72 Boxes

We finished packaging up all our holiday boxes of homemade caramels, fondant centered chocolates and nut clusters. Holly designed beautiful custom packaging to enhance the presentation. We ended up having 72 boxes of yummy, chocolate homemade goodness. We now share these with family, friends, neighbors, colleagues at both our employers, families that we home and visit teach through church, as well as the elderly widows at church. It is a good thing that all this candy is boxed up and in process of getting "out of the house." Holly and I both, have had WAY more than our fair share of home made candy this holiday season! :)

Not a fan of Johnny!

What is the holiday obsession with Johnny Mathis? Every time one of his holiday songs comes on the radio, the hair on the back of my neck stands up and I cringe! I don't get it. There are only two things I hate about the holiday season. Johnny Mathis holiday songs and hoards of people who are "lally-gagging" along and blocking the flow of foot and auto traffic.

The Gift of Christmas

I love this time of year, where you can truly reflect on things that are personally important to yourself and your life. I hate the commercialized aspects of the holidays, but being in the marketing business, I also get the need to constantly promote your brand or product to entice and convince people that they can't live without your product or service. Lots of peoples' livelihood rely on the marketing and advertising business in this country and across the globe.

We had the opportunity to go to a religious themed holiday concert last night, as well as a devotional given by the first presidency of the LDS church. No Jingle Bells, or Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. Just traditional, spiritually focused Christmas hymns and performances. Both venues, combined into one fabulous evening, really left me energized about the approaching Christmas celebration. Not a celebration of gift giving or receiving, or a celebration of what we are doing for the community, non-profit organizations, office white elephant exchanges or troops overseas. But a celebration of the humble birth of Jesus Christ. The circumstances surrounding his coming into this world, and the events leading up to that long for told event. An individual, whom I dearly believe, is the son of God, the Savior of this world, and Redeemer to anyone and everyone who will ever live. An individual whom if we look to for ultimate example, truly does help us live a better life.

Being politically correct all the time during the holiday season to ensure that one does not offend other beliefs is fine. In a world of increasing chaos, we can all do our part to be more accepting of others, and more willing to be well rounded and well versed in other peoples viewpoints to a certain point. I'm excited to celebrate Christmas, the way I want, with who I want. The magic of this time of year, truly does have the heart of men thinking about more than themselves. I love Christmas. I love what it does for family and people. I love what it does for our various communities. But most importantly, I love that those in the world who want to, can unite and focus on the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Calgon, Take Me Away!

Today has been a rather stressful day with bureaucracy and politics playing too much into basic decision making here in my work organization. I had a very successful photo shoot this morning with 46 health care providers that, by the time I had driven back to my office was embroiled in politics to the point where a colleague was reduced to tears over a very bearish and extremely egotistical doctor. Playing the mediator between colleagues and my internal clients, I'm completely exhausted. My mind has immediately drifted to when do I get to take my next vacation. Since Holly and I have been married, we have been fortunate to have been on some really fun vacations together. This stroll down memory lane has me itching to plan the next vacation together. Some are in pre-planning phases.

1999 - Williamsburg, VA & Washington, DC. For our honeymoon.
2000 - Columbus, OH. Going to hang with Nancy via Houston, TX. Fun flights.
2001 - Chicago, IL. We ended up getting stranded for days over 9/11.
2002 - London, UK & Bath, UK. First trip overseas to celebrate graduating from college.
2003 - San Francisco, CA. Holly flew down to meet me after a banking conference.
2004 - No vacation this year. I got laid off from WaMu.
2005 - Rome, Milan, Florence, Sienna & Venice Italy.
2006 - New York City, NY. Shop, dine, Broadway plays. So much fun.
2007 - South Africa & Zambia. Safaris and our first third world experience.
2008 - Paris France & French Mediterranean coastal towns. A culinary vacation.
2009 - Back to Williamsburg, VA & Washington, DC. Celebrate our 10th anniversary.
2010 - Germany, Switzerland & Austria.
2011 - China. Hopefully the wait for our daughter will be through and we'll be traveling to China to pick up a baby.

Approved!

Our adoption home study was approved today!! Now on to the China paperwork.

I Love Fabric!

I really do. I don't care if I use it, I just want to own it and look at it. Here are a few pics of what I am coveting.





My biggest problem is that I know I should make something with all this fun, bright, happy fabric...but I just can't see how all that pattern will fit into our home. Maybe someday I'll figure it out.

Barfed Up Christmas Lights

I'm pretty disappointed in both our neighbors choices of holiday lighting decor. Both neighbors, to the east and west of our place basically barfed up Christmas lights everywhere in no real fashion. Holly and I have had lots of discussions over this, [without casting judgement of course], about the predicament we are now faced with in our neighborhood! :)

They are not even equidistantly spaced, and basically lassoed everywhere! I was even chatting with one neighbor on Saturday and in her own words..."Gosh Dan, your place looks so nice. It's like your home is Magnolia, and our home is Marysville!" Need I say anymore on this?! We'll need to sneak some pictures to post, so all can share in our neighborhood misery.

1975 Photo Flashback

This picture kills me. My sister sent this to me this morning, she pulled it off my cousin's face book page. I'm the newborn baby, being held by my oldest sister with "loop-dy-loop" braid circles. Funny! This was obviously during a family party in the summer or spring of 1975.